Am I overspending?

Not gonna lie...driving a $35,000 car around with a salary of $48k Is a huge mistake to me. Even if its financed, you said you're trying to buy a house which just makes driving a car like that even dumber. If i were in your position I would have bought a 20-22k car max, there are plenty of fun to drive cars in that price range. I would then save the rest up for a house.

So my advice is, prioritize what is most important to you, establish a timeline to meet those goals, and start working towards them by cutting unnecessary things out of your life. From the looks of it, you're stuck with your car but I would try drastically reducing expenditure on the outside so that you live modestly. Thats your only option. Future advice, never ever drop $35k on a car if you're still living with your parents. Moving out is the first step to living your independent life and staying and getting out of there should be your #1 priority, to hell with everything else. This is coming from someone who is 27 years old too, so I know how it is.

Im a huge car guy but I drove the same 2003 tacoma i got in high school all the way through college, and bought my 2008 TL Type S when i graduated and got a good job. Point is cars are great, but other stuff is more important such as moving out.

NapalmEnema said:

If you stay with mommy and daddy past 18 you should reasonably kick in some level of rent. So just sitting there, making as much money as possible by not paying anything and not letting your parents enjoy their golden years so you can 'get ahead' is about the most selfish thing anyone on the planet can ever do.

So with respect, no, this is never an option unless you intend to pay rent. Now I know in silly states like California you have to live with your parents to save money to buy a 1 bedroom house for 4 million when you're 40, but the rest of the country works differently so aside from there or NY -

MOVE OUT AND MAKE YOUR OWN

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Well, I do pay rent. They don't force me too, but I do it out of goodwill. I'm not an asshole.

If i were in your position I would have bought a 20-22k car max, there are plenty of fun to drive cars in that price range. I would then save the rest up for a house.

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Well if I do end up getting rid of it I would be looking for something in that price range if not lower.

I’m old school

If you can’t afford it in cash, then yes, you’ve bought too much car

Zeffy94 said:

I would get a 2nd job but I already am exhausted on the weekends as is and don’t think I want to lose any more free time. .

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And with that I have lost all sympathy for your situation.

BTW: have you asked your parents yet if they will pay off your car, so you can have even more "Free Time".

SCOPESYS said:

And with that I have lost all sympathy for your situation.

BTW: have you asked your parents yet if they will pay off your car, so you can have even more "Free Time".

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Pfft, my parents need my help to pay off their debt.

Even more reason to do things differently from them. Sell the car - break the cycle - get ahead - never look back

Zeffy94 said:

Technically 2 (Rear ended someone and the other one I got rear ended, both were done at exceptionally low speeds and repaired with a reputable body shop), but the carfax only shows 1. It's got 20K miles on it (now 21K) and an aftermarket exhaust, which I could attempt to swap back to OEM to see if would raise the value.



Only thing I worry about selling privately is making sure I don't get like scammed or anything.

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Did you retain a lawyer and sue for diminished value? If Not, then unfortunately you've lost a significant amount of value. Carfax only listing one crash is great, however, you should tell the truth.

GraphiteAZ said:

Did you retain a lawyer and sue for diminished value? If Not, then unfortunately you've lost a significant amount of value. Carfax only listing one crash is great, however, you should tell the truth.

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No, I wasn't aware that was a thing to be honest. It happened about 5 months ago, but I just learned about diminished value claims like a week ago if that from these forums ironically.

OK, so I am doing a bunch of number crunching and seeing what works.

This is if I don't change anything...
This is if I was able to reduce my car payment down to 250 a month and lower gas a bit...

And the best option is not having a car payment at all..

One of the things that will be changing after next month is the fixed credit card payments will go down by 100 as a balance will have been satisfied. I'm looking to see where I can cut costs if possible. I figure I'd need at least 50K as a downpayment for a house... with my current savings account I would have that, but not by much. The second option gives me a lot more of a buffer... both of these scenarios assume my income stays the same, which it won't, because like I said, there's a promotion or pay raise in the near future (words from my manager), plus there's an annual pay raise too. Unfortunately I can't predict what that will lead to, but I know it's coming at least. Hopefully by the start of the next year.

I see opportunities to reduce how much I charge to my credit cards each month... but at least I pay off the balance so I'm not getting screwed by interest.

Z06Chris said:

I'm with this guy.

Granted I run the family business and manage our commercial property so I have no choice unless I quit but I put in 60-72 hours a week.

You're kinda stuck with the car. You might be able to sell and break even but you still lost the $14k down and all the payments for the last 18 months.

Work harder. Find a side hustle. Flip sneakers, get a 2nd job, or whatever. You're still young and can learn from this.

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Agree with this -

I had 'too much car' young, and just worked more hours to cover. Bought the car and moved on with life - just work a bit extra - you wanted it lol - pay for it

Good luck I think you've got a lot of solid advice here

Zeffy94 said:

Pfft, my parents need my help to pay off their debt.

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Seems like you already know the answer.

Someone making <$50K a year probably shouldn't have two cars AND be trying to pay off other people's debt.

You need to get your own house in financial order first.

Ok first take out your wallet and grab a set of scissors... next cut the cards... since you budgeted for payments you don't need them anymore. If you use them for gas/food that's were your overspending. You'll never get them payed off by over using them. This will teach you to spend only money you actually have, at this point talk to your parents about lessing the load of you helping them by helping you. Unless you were actually told to pay rent.

And so you should know that everyone who has a loan thru a financial institution has negative equity, even if on a 0% no interest loan. Automobile values depreciate dramatically, some more then not. And sometimes this amount can be increased by a less then helpful sales manager., when it comes to trades that is.

Secondly maybe try to make the car a garage queen, for sometime when you finally figure this out.

I just spent $2200 on a Remus exhaust with front pipe and carbon tips. I literally paid for it with poker winnings and a $500 Visa gift card that I received as part of a rewards program at work. And despite the fact that I purchased this exhaust completely with unexpected funds that came from other people (outside of my normal paycheck), I still feel incredibly unsettled by making such a large vanity purchase.

You need to seriously readjust your comfort level with spending money that you don't yet have.

They should teach this stuff in Schools, instead of some of the ridiculously useless stuff they currently teach,
They don't, and the young men, like the OP, without the necessary knowledge, get into this sort of mess, and taken advantage of by the Sharks, out to make a quick buck.

SCOPESYS said:

They should teach this stuff in Schools, instead of some of the ridiculously useless stuff they currently teach,
They don't, and the young men, like the OP, without the necessary knowledge, get into this sort of mess, and taken advantage of by the Sharks, out to make a quick buck.

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You should see my employees. After I warned them of dealerships, 2 still went and financed new cars with $2-3k down at 23%+ APR. After gap insurance and high insurance premiums they're actually better off using uber/lyft than making payments on their car. Neither wanted to buy a $4-5k reliable beater because of "image". At least they'll be working for me forever. The crazy thing is they live in apartments with their parents and complain if I ask them to work more shifts. They're comfortable getting by with just enough.